By Polly Raymond, 3 November 1998 00:25
NEWS The EC has today merged its IT and telecoms research units into one programme, a move which could spark off a new era in communications regulation. Simon Bensasson, founder of the IT innovation research programme, Esprit, said the decision reflects a convergence in the industry which will see bandwidth and processing becoming more like commodities rather than specialist markets. One of a number of EU funding programmes, Esprit supports innovation and research and development in the emerging IT sector. It has been held within the industry ministry, but will now be incorporated into the telecoms division. Bensasson said: "The existing definitions [describing IT and telecoms] are nonsense: they're obsolete. We're now talking about innovation that comes out of these two technologies and the programme addresses, in an integrated and seamless manner, everything across the IT and telecoms areas." Scott Moore, analyst at IDC's European Telecoms Group, said the move may set an example to national governments. "It could well spark off a chain reaction across member states. Governments must begin to regulate these two industries as one and the EU's lead could encourage them to construct policies based around the convergence," he said. Moore said the EC is almost certainly following a trend towards convergence set by the commercial sector. He expressed concern that the EC may be a little late when it comes to developing research in this area. "They should have been looking into the combined area for some time now," he said. However, he believes the programme is on schedule for the process of creating standards for the industry.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below